Robust voter turnout and early voting enthusiasm made the difference in three Jackson County Board of Commissioners races, causing the board to flip from a Republican to a Democratic majority. 

If all goes as planned, Jackson County will spend $550,000 to buy the old Pepsi-Cola plant in Whittier, following a party-line vote Friday, Nov. 9. 

The Jackson County Board of Commissioners will flip to a Democratic majority following a hotly contested election in which three of the five seats appeared on the ballot.

Jackson County Sheriff Chip Hall will keep his job for another four years following a decisive victory on Election Day.

If a partnership between Jackson County and the Nantahala Area Southern Off Road Bicycle Association comes to fruition, kids in Cullowhee could soon have access to a new mountain biking track made specifically for them. 

“The county reached out to us saying that they had been hoping to build a bike park on that area in the greenway,” said J.P. Gannon, president of Nantahala SORBA and assistant professor of geology at Western Carolina University. “When we heard that we jumped on it and said, ‘We can make that happen if they want to have it happen.’”

When retired teacher Villa Brewer went to get her mail Oct. 23, she returned with two interesting letters. One was from the N.C. State Health Plan, reminding her that Oct. 31 is the deadline to change her health insurance plan during open enrollment. The second was from Harris Regional Hospital, stating that the hospital’s current contract with UnitedHealthCare — of which Brewer is a member — will end Jan. 1 unless Harris can negotiate better reimbursement rates from the insurer. 

When former Sheriff Jimmy Ashe decided not to run for re-election in 2014, a field of six Democrats and three Republicans signed up for the race to replace him, including Chip Hall and Doug Farmer. 

Ron Mau is still in the midst of his first term on the Jackson County Board of Commissioners, started in 2016, but this November he’s challenging incumbent Chairman Brian McMahan in McMahan’s bid for re-election. 

There was no discussion as the Jackson County Commissioners voted 3-2 Oct. 1 to uphold a vote they took in August to abolish the Consolidated Human Services Board and put themselves in its place. 

Jackson County Commissioner Boyce Deitz took office in 2014 after wresting the seat from incumbent Doug Cody, but this time around Cody is looking to reverse that result in a repeat face-off to represent District 2.